Interview with Dr. Ben Carson

In his speech at the national prayer breakfast, Carson joked about how he must have behaved himself when he previously attended because they invited him back. After a speech that clearly made President Barack Obama uncomfortable, I asked Carson if he thought he would be invited back again.

“Probably not. I don’t know. It really kind of depends on who is running the Senate. The invitation comes from the Senate, not from the White House. Most people think it comes from the White House. Obviously the message that I gave resonated strongly across the country with all kinds of people. And the response has just been overwhelming.”

I asked Carson what was it about the speech that resonated, causing that overwhelming response. Was it the excitement that someone spoke truth to power? Or was it simply that this emperor has no clothes?

“I think the real key here is that our nation is turning into something that most people don’t want it to turn into. And people are no longer filled with freedom, like they used to have, to express their opinion. Now I addressed that issue, and I addressed the arrogance that is manifested in our leadership, and the illogical policies that are bankrupting our country and destroying our future.

“I think basically what I was talking about was common sense. That’s the stuff that people used to know, and people used to feel free to talk about but now they don’t anymore.”

Carson said he will talk about the effect of the culture on our economic decision-making Thursday night. “Talking about the cultural shift, the entitlement mentality becoming a what-can-you-do-for-me nation instead of a can-do nation, all of which are dramatically changing the nature of our country. And these are the kind of things that other countries have done prior to their decline. It seems like we read the manuscript and said, ‘Oh, why don’t we do that, too? Maybe we can decline also.'”

I reminded Carson about the policy prescriptions in his speech that appealed to both social conservatives and fiscal conservatives, such as his support for a flat tax, which he said was based on the Bible. I asked him if there was a message to the Republicans that are currently debating the future direction of the party.

“I think the real message here is, we’re sitting on a precipice right now of determining are we going to be a nation for, of, and by the people; or for, of, and by the government. This is the critical issue here. There are a number of things that have revealed, really quite well over the last week or so, that large government doesn’t necessarily solve problems. That doesn’t mean there is no role for government at all. There is a big role for responsible government. That has been well-defined in our constitution in terms of what the government should be doing.”

“As we continue to overreach, then we necessarily will create an economic situation that will be non-viable because it is impossible for the government to take on the role of being responsible for everybody’s lives. You can’t do it.

That’s the reason we have churches and other non-profit organizations. They’re right there in the communities with the people who are in need. “